Christmas Break
by highwaytothe7hells
Summary: Modern AU. It's Gendry's first Christmas without his mother. When Arya comes back from university for the holidays and invites Gendry to spend the Christmas Eve with her family, their relationship ends up taking a new turn. Originally published on Tumblr. Thought I'd post it here too. :)
1. Christmas Eve

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Arya asked, throwing Gendry a quick glance while driving him home.

"It was great. Really great," he said softly, staring at her as she parked across the street from his apartment. She turned off the car and looked at him, as if sensing his stare. "Thank you," he said, almost whispering, his chest so full of emotions that he could barely speak.

"That's what best friends are for, isn't it?" she asked with a grin.

"I suppose," he said, smiling. He knew she was supposed to drop him and go back home, but he didn't want her to go yet, even though he didn't know what to say to make her stay a little longer. "Can you stay a little bit?" he finally asked, staring expectantly at her.

"No problem," she answered, and then he got off the car, grinning. She left the car as well, and they headed to his apartment.

That had been Gendry's first Christmas Eve without his mother. She had died 3 months ago, leaving him in a state of misery that had lasted for weeks. Arya had been always there for him, giving him all the support she could, even if it meant coming all the way from her university almost every weekend just to see him and make sure he was alright. Most of the times she didn't even let her family know she was around, so she could spend all her free time with Gendry. She even spent several nights in his apartment, just playing videogames or cards or watching movies, so that he wouldn't be alone, and he relished those times so much that he wished they would never end. But he knew she only did it out of friendship, while he nurtured other sort of feelings for her since forever.

To tell the truth, he couldn't help but start to wonder if Arya's actions were being driven by genuine friendship or something else. He wished he could ask someone if that was something normal for a friend to do, but then he pushed these thoughts aside. First of all, he couldn't have this kind of talk about Arya with anyone; second, she never acted like a normal person, so he could never ponder her actions based on someone else's opinions. She was unique, and that was why he loved her.

And then the holiday season came, and Arya insisted for him to spend the Christmas Eve with her family. He was taken aback at first; he didn't want to feel like an intruder in such a family moment. But she insisted, and insisted, and even her father insisted one day when he happened to pass by Gendry in the town.

When Arya showed up in his flat that night, he finally decided to go with her. And he couldn't have made a better decision. Even though he felt emotional most of the time, Arya was there to make him smile every now and then, and so was her family. Actually it seemed like they all had joined her in the mission of making him enjoy his time as much as possible. He had never spent the Christmas Eve with anyone else other than his mother. It would surely be a painful night for him if he had to spend it alone this time, but thanks to Arya it had been a very special night. It still had been painful, but it had been special nonetheless. Once more Arya proved to be a more than thoughtful best friend. And once more he wondered if friendship was all she felt for him.

By the time they reached his door, Gendry's heart was pounding. He desperately wanted to tell her everything he was feeling right now, and tell her how much she meant to him and how she managed, in the last few months, to become even more special to him than she already was. He needed to get all of this out of his chest, but he was still afraid of how she would react. He didn't want to screw things up between them. Never.

When they entered the flat, Arya immediately noticed the bare Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. All the decorations were still in a box next to the tree, practically untouched.

"Why didn't you finish the decoration? You've only added the lights," she asked, kneeling beside the box.

"I was going to finish it, but…," his voice trailed off, and Arya looked at him, frowning at his reaction. "I always did it with mom."

Arya gave him a sympathetic look and then looked at the box again. When she turned to look at Gendry again, she was smiling.

"It's not too late, you know."

He smiled back and followed her suit when she started picking the ornaments and choosing the best place for them on the tree.

When they were done, Gendry turned the lights on, and took his time to admire how gorgeously they reflected on Arya's grey eyes. She was smiling, appreciating their work.

"We did a good job, didn't we?" she asked happily, without taking her eyes off the tree.

He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out a hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She immediately turned to face him, her eyes wide and curious. He couldn't stop himself from moving his hand from her hair to the side of her face, and tentatively caressed her cheek with his thumb, causing her to close her eyes at his touch. His heart quickened at her reaction, and it quickened even more when she placed her hand over his and brought it to her lips, chastely kissing his fingertips.

If Gendry still had doubts on the true nature of Arya's feelings for him, they had just vanished right in front of his eyes. And suddenly he knew that, more than confessing his feelings, he desperately needed to _show _them to her. And that was what he did when he slid his other hand around her waist, pulling her closer, and, without warning, captured her lips with his.

She opened her mouth to him right away, and a spark of electricity ran throughout his body when their tongues touched and swirled around each other. She wrapped both her arms around his neck, standing on her tip toes, and brought her body even closer to his, moaning against his lips.

The kiss grew deeper and deeper, and all Gendry could think of was the amount of passion Arya was putting into that kiss, as if she had been suppressing her feelings for a long time and was finally releasing them. Just like him.

When they broke the kiss, gasping for breath, their lips were red and swollen, their hearts racing, and Gendry nearly went crazy at the way Arya bit her bottom lip, eyes still closed and a little smile forming in the corner of her mouth. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, blushing, her eyes shining.

"I thought this night couldn't get more special, but it just did," he said, stroking her hair tenderly with one hand, the other still on her waist.

She smiled shyly, her hands on his chest now, her fingers playing with the fabric of his shirt.

"You have no idea how long I waited for this…" she said, her eyes staring deep into his.

"I think I do," he said and leaned down again, his lips aiming her ear this time. "I don't have enough words to tell you how much you mean to me," he said, his voice lower and lower. "But, if you let me, I'll show you every day from now on", he whispered, right before planting a gentle kiss on her neck, earning a soft gasp from her.

"I want you to," she whispered back, her lips lightly touching his neck, "because you mean to me just as much."

Before Arya could say anything else, Gendry claimed her lips again, and she promptly returned the kiss. But before it could grow as deep and intense as the first one, Arya's phone buzzed with a message. She read it and sighed.

"I have to go… Robb says it started snowing and I better go home before the road becomes slick."

"Oh… Okay…" he said resignedly.

Gendry led Arya to her car, hands entwined. The street was already covered with little snowflakes, so was her car, and Arya sighed again.

"I wish I could stay more," she said, nearly pouting.

He held her close and kissed her forehead.

"We'll have plenty of free time till the end of the Christmas break," he said. "We can spend all of it together if you want."

"Of course I want," she said before kissing him again, long and deep. Then she pulled away. "By the way… Do you have any plans for the New Year's Eve?"

"Not yet."

She smiled widely.

"Good," was all she said, and then she got into the car.

"You're not gonna tell me what you're planning?" he asked, leaning down to her window.

"Not yet. Just trust me, right?"

She smiled, pulled his face for a quick kiss and with that she was gone.

To tell the truth, she wouldn't be Arya Stark if she didn't do exactly what she just did, leaving him gaping like an idiot. But he couldn't help, he loved her just like that. And there was no denying it; he could barely hold his excitement for whatever was to come.


	2. The New Year's Eve

"So…" Gendry whispered in a husky voice when they broke their kiss, "we still have 30 minutes until midnight. Are we going somewhere to see the fireworks", he paused to give Arya's neck a lingering wet kiss, "or will we just stay here?"

Gendry was sitting on his sofa, and Arya was straddling his lap. After having dinner together (Gendry had decided to prepare everything himself, after Arya told him she was going to spend the New Year's Eve at his apartment, and he had felt really proud of himself as he watched her pleased face and heard the pleasured sounds that came from her as she ate her meal), they listened to some music and even danced together in the middle of his living room, but the dance pretty soon turned into kissing, which turned into a very intense make-out session. They had been making out for at least 40 minutes now, and neither seemed to be tired of it. In fact, making out was practically all they had done in the past few days, and Gendry couldn't be happier.

They had spent quite a lot of time together since Christmas, and Gendry tried not to think how bad he would miss Arya once she had to go back to university.

"Would you mind if we stayed here?", she asked, nearly breathless. "I don't feel like going to any place where I can't be like this with you…"

"I don't mind at all," he whispered huskily against her collarbone before claiming her lips again. The holidays were almost over now and he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

Of all the times they had been together, this was by far the best one. Arya had never been on his lap before. Actually, she had never been so bold… She was trailing kisses down his jaw and neck now, her hands buried in his thick black her, and he was glad she was sitting a couple inches away from his crotch, or she would definitely feel the effects she was having on him.

He was fighting the urge to pull her body closer to him, because it would mean to place her directly over his growing erection, and he wasn't sure if he should do this. Maybe it was too soon and she may not-

And then he lost completely the train of thought when _she_ moved her body forward, sighing at the contact with his arousal. He gasped for air, and in the next second her lips were on his again, and he let out a deep groan. Before he could even think about what he was doing, his hands found their way to her hips and stroked them, silently asking them to move. And they did. Arya started to move back and forth slowly as she deepened the kiss even more. Gendry was about to grab her by the waist and pin her down on the sofa when…

_Knock, knock, knock._

They stopped the kiss at once and looked at each other, alarmed.

"Who in the seven hells can be?", he asked more to himself than to Arya, sounding extremely annoyed.

"I have no idea", Arya said, disentangling herself from him and getting on her feet. "Do you want me to open? You may want to cool down a bit before getting up," she said mischievously, throwing a quick glance at his pants, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll have to get up anyway, you would never reach the peephole-OUCH!"

"Shut up, or we won't resume our making out anytime soon," she said, her voice hardly threatening.

Gendry just laughed, going to the door while rubbing the arm she had just hit. Then he looked through the peephole and sighed.

"Who is it?"

"It's Hot Pie."

"Get him inside, it's almost midnight!"

Before Gendry could say anything, Arya was opening the door.

_Damn it._

Gendry felt his mood drop. As much as he liked Hot Pie, he wanted to be alone with Arya as much as he could, and he didn't even know how long that would be. He doubted she would be able to stay long after midnight, and he was annoyed that she agreed to open the door to Hot Pie without a second thought.

_We could have pretended there was no one home_, he thought sourly. He knew he was being selfish, but he couldn't help.

"Hey! I knew you would be here! I wish I had come earlier, but only now I managed to finish the hot pie! Here!"

"Whoah, finally! I thought I would never taste your main spetialty!" Arya said happily.

She led Hot Pie to the kitchen counter while Gendry closed the door.

"How did you know we would be here?" Gendry asked.

"Actually I wasn't sure, but I thought I'd give it a try. I thought there was a good chance to find you here, and an even better chance to find Arya here with you, since you would be… all by yourself, now that your mother… Well, then I thought I'd come too and bring you hot pie!"

Gendry suddenly felt bad for wishing Hot Pie wasn't there. He had obviously put some thought into the fact that Gendry didn't have his mother anymore and would probably feel alone. And Hot Pie had never baked anything for him before. That was probably his way to try and cheer Gendry up.

Arya brought a knife for Hot Pie to start slicing the pie, and then silently beckoned Gendry to follow her towards the very back of the kitchen, out of Hot Pie's sight. As soon as they got there, the sound of fireworks started to explode outside. It was midnight.

Arya grabbed Gendry's face with both hands, stood on her tip toes and gave him a deep but quick kiss.

"Happy new year," she whispered. "I didn't want to do it in front of Hot Pie."

"Happy new year," he whispered back. "I think that was wise. I'm not really in the mood for his potential teasings."

"Not in the mood? Is there something wrong?", she asked frowning, but before he could answer, they heard Hot Pie calling them.

"Hey guys! It's midnight!"

"It is!", Arya said, walking fast through the kitchen and grabbing the bottle of champaign on her way.

"Happy new year!"

They greeted each other, drinking the champaign, and then attacked the hot pie while Arya told them about her first semester at university.

It was almost 1:30 a.m., when Hot Pie left, and Gendry sighed, utterly unhappy.

"Hey," Arya said, coming over him. "It was a nice night, wasn't it? Why are you sad?"

"It was nice, but… I wish it had been just you and me. I know Hot Pie had good intentions, and I'm grateful, I really am, but…" he took a look at his clock. "It's rather late, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," she said, closing the space between them and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Don't you have to go home? I don't want your father coming over and killing me, you know."

"I'm not going home tonight."

Gendry only stared at her, dumbstruck.

"I told my parents I would spend the New Year's Eve with some friends from uni and that I would sleep over. I couldn't very well tell them I was planning to spend the whole night with you, could I?" she said, smirking wickedly.

He was speechless. He just kept staring at her, unable to say anything. Had she just said she wanted to spend the night with him? Of course she had already spent several nights in his apartment before, but it had been different. They had been just friends then, and now…

"Unless you don't want me to stay…"

"Of course I want you to stay," he said a little too fast, which made her laugh, and then he blushed deeply. "I- I mean, I'm happy that you-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence though, because Arya leaned up to kiss him, and she did it quite fiercely. Then she broke the kiss, grabbed his hand and led him to the sofa, and then pushed him down and straddled him, resuming their former position.

"Where were we?"

"Here," he whispered before pulling her hips firmly towards his, bringing her body closer, and then kissing her hard.

She returned the kiss with just as much passion, and when she slipped her hand down between their hips and inside his pants, he knew what she was up to.

Suddenly his bad mood was long forgotten.

* * *

Arya opened her eyes lazily. Her mind was a bit confused, and it took her a couple seconds to realize where she was. And when she did, she smiled.

She shifted on the bed so that she could face him.

_Gendry_.

He was still sleeping, lying on his stomach, one side of his face pressed into the pillow, and she took her time watching him.

Gendry had been her friend for a long time, but it was not until she went off to university that she realized what she felt for him. She found herself missing him in a way she never thought she would, and she would always wait anxiously for that time of the night when she would turn on her laptop and talk to him. She chatted more with him than she did with her family.

They also used to text each other a lot, and she always dreaded the day he would tell her he had found a girlfriend. Then, one day, she decided she would find a way to tell him about her feelings. She didn't know how, but she had to do it, even though she didn't have much hope of him returning her feelings.

But then his mother died and she had to postpone her plans. But she had to be there for him all the same, so she spent lots of weekends with him to take care of him and make sure he was okay. But of course he wasn't. He had been always very attached to his mother, who had been a wonderful woman by the way. She had raised Gendry all by her herself, and had turned him into a wonderful man. Arya liked her very much, and she had cried a lot when Gendry told her she had died.

When she came to the funeral, it was heartbreaking. Gendry was suffering a lot, and Arya wished she could do something to dry his tears. But all she could do was offering him her support, and more than once he would cry and she would make him lay down with his head on her lap, and she would caress his hair, trying to fight back her own tears. Then she did her best to cheer him up and raise his spirits, and she kept coming almost every weekend until after it wasn't really necessary anymore.

During the times they spent together, more than once she caught him staring at her with an unreadable look on his face. He always averted his gaze though, and she never asked what it was, but she couldn't help but wonder. Suddenly she had hopes that he would like her the way she liked him.

When the Christmas holidays came and she was able to go home for the break, she promised herself she would find a way to confess her feelings.

She had invited him to spend the Christmas Eve with her family, but she didn't know if it would be the right time to tell him. It would surely be a very emotional night for him, and she didn't want to take advantage of his vulnerability.

But then _he_ made a move when they were back at his flat, and then their relationship turned into utter bliss.

In one week they had gone from friends to lovers, and Arya had never been so happy; happy because she could feel, in the way he kissed her and in the way he touched her, that he did return her feelings intensely; happy that the heat between them had grown stronger and stronger each time they had been together in the days between Christmas and the New Year, which eventually led them to where they were now, naked in his bed.

By the way, she was glad that Gendry hadn't tried to stop her when he realized how far she was willing to go. She didn't want to waste time convincing him that she was an adult and that she was perfectly sure of what she was doing. She honestly thought he would try to hold on, but thankfully he didn't. In fact, she could tell he wanted her as much as she wanted him, because he eagerly followed suit when he noticed she was turning their making out into foreplay.

She was also happy that nature had been good to her and she had barely felt any pain when Gendry first entered her last night. Despite her previous boldness, touching him and teasing him to no end, she had felt slightly nervous, but he had been so gentle and so deft with his fingers and tongue that she had been wet and needy enough when he slid his cock inside her. She felt little pain, so little that it was easily forgotten once he set his pace, the constant friction against that soft spot inside her causing such pleasure that all she could think of was the way his hips rocked against hers, the fire building between her legs and his pleasured groans that matched her own.

The only thing that made her sad was that the holidays were practically over, and tomorrow she would have to go back to university. She wished she didn't have to leave him. How would she bear to stay away from him now? She felt her heart tighten.

As if sensing her distress, Gendry stirred from his sleep and gazed at her.

"Good morning," he said in a low voice, moving closer to her so that he could kiss her forehead and wrap his arm around her waist.

"Good morning," she said, smiling, but it was a weak smile.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, frowning, propping himself up on his elbows.

She sighed.

"I wish I could stay…"

"Me too," he whispered before placing a sweet and chaste kiss on her lips. "But we can sort it out, you know."

"How?"

"You have your own room in the house you live there, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you once mentioned that the girls who share the house with you often take their boyfriends there, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said, a smile already forming in her lips. She knew what he was going to suggest.

"I could drive there every weekend if you want me to," he said, circling her cheek with his thumb.

"Wouldn't it be expensive?"

"It doesn't matter, I can do it. I _want_ to do it. I don't want to go months without seeing you again. You just need to allow me and I'll go."

"I do, of course I do!" she said happily, leaning up to kiss him and then pushing him on his back, rolling them so that she was on top of him.

The kiss grew deeper and deeper, and soon she found herself straddling him, sitting a few inches from his hardness.

"How long until you need to go home?" he asked, breathless, one hand stroking her thigh while the other cupped her breast.

"Long enough," she smirked, as she moved forward and lowered herself onto him.

The new year promised to be very happy indeed.


End file.
